Under the Blood Red Sun

A good book that I recently read is Under the Blood Red Sun. It is a realistic historical fiction book by Graham Salisbury. It takes place on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, before, during, and after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The story is told from the point-of-view of Tomikazu (Tomi), an innocent Japanese-American boy living near Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack. Then Pearl Harbor is bombed. Tomi must deal with racism, bullies, and cruelty. Tomikazu is a friendly eighth-grade boy who likes to play baseball, and has consequently formed his own team, The Rats. He is loyal to his friends and will even face the crazy school bully, Keet Wilson, for them. Billy and The rats are Tomi's best friends, being eighth grade and avid fans of baseball like he is. Billy is the friend that Tomi hangs out with the most. He is The Rat's star pitcher and is kind of shy. From the very beginning, even before Pearl Harbor was bombed, Keet Wilson, the local bully, is a problem. He is a spoiled brat who can take down even Billy's older brother, Jake. His extremely strict father is Tomi's family's landlord, so they cannot do anything to harm him. However, after the bombing, Keet takes being mean to a whole new level. Keet reports Tomi's father and grandfather to the police, falsely accusing them of being Japanese agents. He also tells the police anything Tomi's family does, exaggerating it so it sounds like they are Japanese supporters. He kills Tomi's father's prize racing pigeons, saying that they are messenger pigeons. He also breaks Tomi's family's clothesline and spoils their water supply. The book starts out several days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It encompasses some of The Rat's baseball games, and their friendship with another team. Then Pearl Harbor is bombed. Tomi's peaceful life erupts into chaos. Everyone is suspicious of all the Japanese, and there are several lynch mobs. His father is shot in the leg by an American aircraft and taken away when coming back from a harmless fishing trip. Many Japanese are being taken the mainland internment camps, which are places that the U.S. government built so Japanese-Americans would not spy. But what will happen to Tomi's family as the only peaceful world they had ever known is crumbling around them? The largest theme in the book is teamwork. Tomikazu's baseball team sticks together through Pearl Harbor, other baseball games, and bullies. It is a theme that makes you think teams can pull through anything, which they usually can. Another theme is racism. Tomi struggles through the racism directed at Japanese-Americans by white Americans who feared that they were spies following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I would recommend this book to anyone ages 11-14. It is a very good book, and deservedly won the prestigious Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. It is very accurate for that timeframe, and it teaches in an entertaining way. It accurately describes the fear and racism following Pea

A book about Pearl Harbor and how this one family of Japanese lived through the crisis and the impact it had on their world around them. For a short book, there were a lot of memorable characters. Mr. Ramos, the science teacher, who quit being a lawyer to become a teacher because "Those boys out there need somebody before, not after, they get into trouble" A group of friends, different, yet very much the same - Billy, Rico, Mose and the main character Tomi. Sanji - Papa's fishing partner, hard working and loyal. Mama and Papa - caught between two countries. Kimi - Tomi's younger sister, just trying to survive and take it all in. Lucky and her puppies - Tomi's faithul dog. Grampa - doesn't want to give up his heritage, yet doesn't understand the his actions are harming his family. A wonderful read, I would recommend it to anyone.

This is a terrific book. The story is about a boy named Tomi Nakaji. He lives in Oahu, Hawaii, when Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese. During this difficult time, Tomi has to face many challenges such as Keet Wilson, the Japanese Bullies, and his father and grandfather getting arrested. The only people he has left now are his sister, mother and his buddies (the Rats). Tomi's world vanishes in an hour, however, he still needs to be the man of the house and help his family get through this horrible loss.

I read this in 5th grade for Battle of the Books. For some reason I was convinced that it was going to be the worst one, and I put it off to read last, but after I read it, I was charmed. This was my favorite book, tied with only one other. This historical fiction is a work or art. It depicts the bombing at Pearl Harbor well, showing how it changed so many lives. My copy is bent from over reading. No one that has taken my advice to read it has been dissapointed. The predjudice against the Japanese-Americans sparked by that bombing was really something that changed America. The main character, Tomi, has to struggle through family problems, as well as broken of friendships and tries to help hold onto any little bit of family herritage left. The rewards of reading this book are large, and I really appreciated it.

This book was the best WWII book I have ever read that seriously relates to Hawaii... I think Graham Salisbury's works are good because they are deep and emotional especially this one!!! This is a GREAT book! Read Blue Skin of the Sea too! VERY GOOD!